Johnny Manziel to start NFL comeback in Spring League

Johnny Manziel will be playing in a developmental league this spring as he continues his attempt to return to the NFL.

Former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel is returning to football, at least for a couple of weeks.

Manziel announced on Wednesday that he will be joining the Spring League, which runs in Austin Texas from March 28 through April 15. The Spring League consists of four teams, who play two games each. Manziel will be part of the South team, which has games on April 7 and 14.

“Football has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. Sometimes you take for granted how much you value something until it’s gone. My goal is to make it back to the NFL and I realize I have to earn that privilege,” Manziel said in a statement, per Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “The Spring League has provided me with a great opportunity to play ball again, and ultimately, that is all I want to do. I miss the competition.”

“We believe our platform is the ideal forum for Mr. Manziel to enact his NFL comeback,”Spring League CEO Brian Woods said in a statement, per ESPN.

Johnny Football had gotten an offer from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, but a deal couldn’t be reached. He hasn’t played football since being cut by the Cleveland Browns in 2015. Earlier this week he told ABC News that he has stopped drinking and has bipolar disorder.

“I was self-medicating with alcohol. That’s what I thought would make me happy and get out of that depression,” Johnny Football said, per Catherine Thorbecke and Courtney Condron of ABC News. “When I would wake up the next day after a night like that, going on a trip like that, and you wake up the next day and that is all gone, that liquid courage, or that liquid … sense of euphoria that is over you, is all gone.”

He added, “I am taking medication for bipolar, and I am working to try to make sure I don’t fall back into any type of depression, because I know where that leads me and I know how slippery a slope that is for me.”

Manziel has said that he wants to be back in the NFL ever since the Browns cut him. Looks like the Spring League is the first step to a possible return to the NFL.